


Therapy

by ByAStream



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Mentions of Natasha Romanov - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 15:37:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21358612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByAStream/pseuds/ByAStream
Summary: The Snap. The Blip. After everything that happened, they have to say goodbye to the fallen. After all is said and done, Bucky sits with her, letting her grieve in a way she hasn’t been about to.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> Written in the 3rd person without use of name placeholders; loosely inspired by All Time Low’s ‘Therapy’
> 
> Can also be found on Tumblr under the username jbbarnesnnoble

She was a lot of things. Brash, calculating, snarky, intelligent. But he had never seen her like this. The crowd thinned, the services over. She sat at the end of the dock, still staring out at the water. He had heard the argument she’d had with Steve. ‘ _ Arrogant boy’  _ was what she had called him. Steve Rogers and arrogant were two things he never would have thought to put together in a sentence. Reckless sure, but he never thought arrogance was something that fit Steve. 

She and Steve constantly argued over things. Natasha was always playing mediator between the two since she’d come on board, before him, before the Accords, before everything that had happened. But it was more like a relationship between siblings. Bucky knew enough to see that they cared about one another. He hadn’t been around her long enough to see her like this. Vulnerable, broken, hurting. Sobs wracked her body. Slowly, he made his way to her, carefully sitting down beside her. 

“You want to talk about it?” he questioned. She shook her head as another sob escaped her. 

“Do you want me to hold you?” he asked. This time she nodded. He lifted his arm, wrapping it around her shoulder and drawing her to him. His other arm wrapped around her front, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she cried. For the first time since everything happened, the Snap, the Blip, finding out that Natasha was dead, that Tony was dead, and the plan Steve had, Bucky let himself cry too. Silent tears slid down his cheeks as he held her. 

“Not fair. It’s not fair,” she said, her voice raspy from crying. Bucky was inclined to agree, but life, he’d found, was so very rarely fair. What happened to him wasn’t fair. What happened to Steve wasn’t fair. Natasha’s life hadn’t been fair or kind. They were all some kind of broken from the unfairness that was life. 

“No, it’s not. But we’ll move forward, because that’s the only option we have,” Bucky replied after a few moments. She scoffed.

“Try telling that to Captain Moron, would you? Seems like the only thing he wants to do is move backward,” she snapped. Bucky nodded.

“He’s got his reasons,” Bucky said. She sighed.

“And she’s got a life. Do you think he ever stopped to think about that? Really, truly think about that? Peggy Carter moved on. Got married, had kids, founded SHIELD, no matter how infested and rotten some of it was. All of that, without Steve. And what about me? About all of us? We care about him too,” she said, defeat in her voice. He had thought about that since Steve had told him earlier that morning about his plan. It stung. Knowing that Steve had done everything he could to get him back once he knew he was alive, only for him to want to run back to the past. He understood wanting a break, wanting some kind of normal, but Bucky wasn’t so sure Steve’s way was the way to go about doing it. 

“He hasn’t. He’s hurting too. He just doesn’t show it. Punk probably thinks he needs to be strong for the rest of us,” Bucky told her. 

“He’s an absolute idiot. Going to her won’t fix anything, won’t fix him. He’s not the same Steve that Peggy lost and she’s not the same Peggy she was when she lost him,” she said. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, taking in the quietness of the afternoon. 

She wasn’t sure she could handle losing Steve too, she had told him, even with all the bickering they did. He was the one who had helped her pick up the pieces, to bring her into the world of Avengers so long ago when she felt more like a scared child than someone who was enhanced. He’d become like a brother to her. She had already lost one family and pieces of another. Eventually, they had to move, had to go see Steve off, even if she didn’t want to. 

Bucky watched her as she walked up to Steve. There was a tension in the air as they all watched, unsure of what would happen. Suddenly, she pulled Steve into a hug and sobbed. Bucky couldn’t hear what was being said from where he was standing. He’d had enough sense to give the two their space. He watched as Steve’s expression changed to a deep frown as the woman in front of him gestured wildly. He could guess the way the conversation was going. 

“Everything good, doll?” Bucky asked her as she walked over to him. She shrugged. He could see the heartache and pain clear on her face. He walked over to where his oldest friend stood. It was a bittersweet moment before Steve stepped to the platform. 

She stood beside him, watching as Steve disappeared from sight. Bucky wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. He could hear the stutter in her breath as she counted. Her shoulders sagged in defeat when he didn’t reappear. Bucky just pulled her close, letting her have her moment of sorrow. The machine kicked back to life, drawing her attention. Bucky watched curiously as Steve reappeared. And then he saw the side of her he was more familiar with, the side that let you know in no uncertain terms just how badly you’d messed up.

“Steven Grant Rogers,” she growled out. Steve had enough sense to duck his head and listen to the words the woman in front of him spat out. 

“I’m sorry I worried you, kiddo. I just had a missed appointment to make,” Steve said quietly. A look of understanding passed on the woman’s face. 

“And?” she asked him. 

“I don’t kiss and tell, especially not to my kid sister,” he teased. She made a face as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Bucky smiled at the sight, a lightness settling over him that he hadn’t felt in a long time. This was home. This was family. And maybe, just maybe, there would be something more with the spitfire of a woman he’d spent the day with. 


End file.
